Blood Monkey (film)
Blood Monkey is a 2007 American made-for-television natural horror film produced by RHI Entertainment and directed by Robert Young. It aired on various video on demand channels, before officially premiering in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel on January 27, 2008. Filmed in Thailand, the film is the first title in the "Maneater" film series produced under an agreement with Sci Fi. The film followed a group of six students studying primates in Africa under the demented Professor Hamilton who find themselves under attack from bloodthirsty primates in the jungle. Reviewers panned the film, criticizing the acting, dialogue, plot, low quality special effects, and the lack of appearances by the titular monster, the monkeys. They also questioned the appearance of F. Murray Abraham in the film, though note that his performance was its only positive aspect. Plot Anthropological rofesser conrad hamilton attempts to study a new species of primate,possibly the missing link between humanity and the great ape,found in a hidden valley deep within the jungles of thailand.However they find themselves under attack from large bloodthirsty primates. Cast * F. Murray Abraham as Professor Hamilton * Matt Ryan as Seth * Amy Manson as Amy Armstrong * Matt Reeves as Greg Satch * Laura Aikman as Sydney Maas * Sebastian Armesto as Josh Dawson * Freishia Bomanbehram as Dani Sudeva Production In October 2006, RHI Entertainment made a deal with the Sci Fi Channel to produce a series of ten made-for-television natural horror films to air on the network the following year. Dubbed the "Maneater" series by RHI Entertainment, Blood Monkey was the first film of the series to be released. Although the agreement called for the films to premiere on SciFi, the first six films in the series actually premiered in Canada on video on demand due to an existing pre-licensing agreement. F. Murray Abraham felt his character was "so interesting because he is so monomaniacal". For one scene, in which the characters had to scale a high cliff, the actors learned abseiling—the controlled descent down a rope along an extremely steep cliff or slope—and performed the stunt themselves. Abraham said it was a "thrilling" challenge. Matt Ryan felt the most challenging part of filming the movie was all of the running through the jungle that was required for many scenes. Distribution Blood Monkey premiered in Canada on the subscription-based video on demand channel Movie Central on Demand earlier in 2007 as well as other VOD channels before it aired on Syfy, then the Sci Fi Channel, on January 27, 2008. It was released on DVD on November 6, 2007 by Genius Entertainment, with no extras. The film was re-released to DVD on July 22, 2008 as one of three films included on the first volume of the "Maneater Series Collection" film sets. The other two films were In the Spider's Web and Maneater, the second and third films in the series, respectively. Reception Blood Monkey was heavily panned by critics. Horror.com's Staci Layne Wilson felt Blood Monkey was "abysmal" with forgettable, expendable actors following F. Murray Abraham. In reviewing the film for DVD Talk, author Nick Lyons thought the six students were "sterotypical" and expressed sorrow that "respected award winning actor F. Murray Abraham...lowered himself to star in this." Noting that other films in the genre are often "so bad it's good", he felt Blood Monkey failed at achieving this, with most of the film deemed "unwatchable" for mostly having scenes of the characters walking and a seeming lack of production values. Monsters and Critics.com's Jeff Swindoll also questioned Abraham's apparently not knowing "better than to star in this dreck" as a "cheapjack version of Captain Ahab". He panned the film's laughable special effects, though he offered it minor praise for its "rather bleak ending" similar to the series' titular title Maneater. David Johnson of DVD Verdict criticized the film's low budget and "trite" acting, with no fright value when the actual creature doesn't appear until even the end of the film... Scott Weinberg, reviewing the film for FEARnet, considers the film "extra-stupid" and also notes the film's lack of appearances by the titular creature. Stating "the dialog is rotten, the actors are bad, and the FX are hilarious", he felt Abraham delivered "a patently perfect performance" and notes that he "gets progressively more outlandish as the movie goes on." References External links * [http://www.rhifilms.com/property.php?propertyId=Bloodmonkey Official RHI Entertainment Blood Monkey website] * [http://www.geniusproducts.com/maneaterseries/blood_monkey_tp.html Official Genius Entertainment Blood Monkey website] * Category:2006 films Category:2000s horror films Category:B movies Category:Canadian films Category:English-language films Category:Maneater film series Category:Natural horror films Category:Sci Fi Channel original films